Off-beat

Dining with the dacoits

Neeta Lal 

Robin Hood and the Nottingham Forest is said to draw tourists by the hordes. Taking a leaf out of it the Rajasthan Tourism hopes to convert the dacoit infested districts into tourism destinations. If the experiment succeeds then financial success might bring about a permanent change in the social psyche of the region while providing adventure and thrill to the tourists. 

Here's "adventure tourism" with a twist. India's western desert state of Rajasthan will soon be launching dacoit tourism packages in the region under which erstwhile bandits will act as tour guides.

So the next time you visit India, forget about the Taj Mahal, the beautiful Kerala backwaters or Kashmir's salubrious surroundings. Plump instead for a morning cuppa with a fiercely mustachioed bandit on the banks of River Chambal or dinner with a gun-strapped highwayman in the deep, dark woods.

The dacoit (or bandit) package is part of a larger plan by Rajasthan tourism to open up the jungle and the ravines in the Chambal river valley to visitors. The state government feels the move will not only help develop the area and upgrade its tourism infrastructure, but also showcase the state's culture by offering something quite unique.

The innovative proposal for dacoit tourism - perhaps the world's first such idea - is the brainchild of the Dang Area Development Board (DADB), a government outfit set up to focus on the development and modernization of the six districts of the Dang area. Krishna Chandra Pal, DADB chairman, feels that the Tourism Department's decision to include the dacoit trail on the state tourism circuit has "enormous potential".

The six Dang districts - Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Baran and Jhalawar - have been dacoit terrain for centuries. Last month, one of the area's most feared bandits was shot dead in a gun fight with police. Deep Chand, alias Nadia, 41, was gunned down by officers hunting him for the murder of five "untouchables" - poor, low-caste Hindus - along with several of his gang members. However, while many dreaded dacoits are still active in the area, dozens have surrendered to the state government and become farmers.

While banditry is widespread in India, many criminals are heroes to the poor for their Robin Hood-esque appeal. Famous bandit Verappan, whose private army murdered 180 people over 20 years, for instance, was protected by villagers in south India for a share of his profits made by smuggling sandalwood and ivory profits. Similarly, Phoolan Devi, known as the "Bandit Queen", who murdered many high-caste people, was so popular that she was elected as a Member of Parliament after her release from jail. Later, her life story was turned into a hit film.

Under the Rajasthan scheme, recently surrendered dacoits will entertain visitors under the watchful eye of government officials. They will take tourists to bandit-infested areas in the Chamba Valley on a "Dacoit Trail" to show people where they lived and the scenes of their worst crimes.

The visitor will also be regaled by real-life dacoits with their own highway lore: tales of a life on the run, daring exploits, police encounters and dangerous escapes. To begin with, tourists will be taken to dacoit-infested districts such as Dhaulpur, Bharatpur and Karauli. More hotspots will be added to the circuit depending upon the response to the scheme. The DADB also intends to add heft to this plan by roping in older, retired dacoits.

The dacoits are upbeat about the government's plan. Autari Gurjar, the most dreaded bandit of his time (until he surrendered in 2007), told a newspaper recently, "If the tourists are willing to come here to interact with us, they are welcome." Erstwhile dacoits such as Roop Singh, Madho Singh, Bhanwar Singh and bandit queen Surjo are also hopeful that this step will help them join mainstream society by making them employable and softening their dreadful image.

The scheme, says DADB, will cover dozens of dacoits whose names once instilled fear in the Chambal valley. Apart from Rajasthan, this valley also covers vast swathes of the rough and wild country of the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. However, most dacoits of this region have now laid down their arms and have surrendered to the government to lead normal lives. Pal feels launching dacoit tourism packages will add to Dang's tourism quotient, turning the area's notoriety into its USP (Unique Selling Proposition).

Experts point out that Dang - with its rugged terrain, wildlife and culture - has always had tremendous tourism potential, which could not be tapped because of its association with dacoits. But now, the government's unconventional idea has everybody excited, especially the region's travel sector. The owner of a wildlife resort in the Dang area says, "An encounter with the dacoits will surely attract a lot of adventure tourists. The very idea of interacting with a bandit on the banks of the Chambal will be immensely appealing to them."

While peaceable dacoits can help make the scheme a success, gangs opposed to it might make trouble for tourists and apprehensions do remain. "Only if the government makes proper security arrangements for the foreigners will the scheme click," says a hotel owner in Dang.

Even as the state tourism ministry is striving to make such dacoit encounters completely safe, local senior police met last month to deal with the menace of bandits in the forested areas bordering Rajasthan. These remain gripped by bandit violence, and there are regular shoot-outs between gang members and the police.

However, if the state can handle both parties - tourists and dacoits - with panache, and are backed by the local tourism bodies, the scheme can reap rich dividends. For not only will it bring former dacoits into the mainstream economy, it will help generate jobs and fill state coffers with foreign exchange.